Love Conquers all
by onlyonespur23
Summary: Henry VIII / OC Henry is the spare son when he meets Jane stafford they go through life together can they still be friends when he is told he is to be king


Chapter One:

Jane was having her hair brushed she hated having her hair brushed. The house was a hive of activity after receiving news that Henry VII and his gracious queen Elizabeth was coming to stay. Her father the Duke of Buckingham who was a man who had a great deal of power in the court of Henry VII was practically brimming with pride that the King along with his wife and if she was correct his second son and his best friend Charles Brandon were both going to be coming too.

Jane also knew why her father was so excited about the Queen coming she was a relation to the Stafford family, a cousin, which meant that royal blood also ran through her own veins, the Plantagenet blood having her here was something that her father would be boasting about at court for many months to come. Her mother Eleanor came to look at her. Her mother sighed, there was no way that she could ever squash the spirit that her youngest daughter had within her and if she was honest she was unsure whether she ever wanted to. She could still remember the birth nine summers ago, Jane's birth had been harsh and she almost lost her. If Eleanor was honest with herself she expected great things for her youngest daughter who in her heart would always be her favourite child. She had the spirit that could match any man and was well taught without the need to practice a lot.

'Jane, will you please sit still' her mother chastised her. 'Soon the King will be here and you will still be in your play clothes'

'Mother why do I need to dress in finery for the King?' Jane sighed, 'Surely he will be much more at ease if I am comfortable'

'Oh my dear child, you are to be dressed in your finery because the King wants to see what a beautiful young lady you are' her mother kissed her cheek, 'That and it would upset your father so if you did not'

'And we cannot have father upset'

'That we can't my dear' she stroked her daughters auburn hair. 'Now next time I see you I want you to be the Lady that the name Stafford would be proud of'

'As you wish mother' Jane nodded.

Jane began to allow the maid to brush her hair back as she began to dream about being outside running and laughing, Being free from being a Lady and having to wear such restrictive gowns.

()()()()

Standing at the front of the house of the home that her father was beginning to extend again which had been through the generations of the Stafford family for almost a century. Jane found herself becoming very nervous. She knew she should not as it was not the first time that she had met the King and his Queen, the Queen was actually her godmother. But something about today Jane had the feeling that something was about to change in her life forever.

The first thing she noticed was the royal banner coming closer in the distance the emblem of the Tudor rose which had the white rose of the house of York and the red rose for the house of Lancaster brought together by the marriage of Henry and Elizabeth. It was although a political match for many who saw it Jane had seen love between Elizabeth and Henry and she was sure that they were deeply in love for each other.

She watched as her father met the King, his angled face looking down at her father. Jane knew that there was still some resentment that Henry had taken the throne. When his claim to it although being a Lancastrian descendent was a weak one at best, but he had made many people realise that God had appointed him as King for a reason and he was not doing a bad job at it.

'Your Highnesses it is an honour to have you here'

'It is an honour for you to say yes my dear friend Edward' the king smiled.

'Cousin' Elizabeth smiled to Edward.

'My lady'

Jane was not interested in the formalities of welcoming the King and Queen she was much more interested in the two boys well, one a boy just a few years older than herself but the other a man. They were looking as if they were up to something that they really should not have been doing. It was the younger boy who looked to her; there was no mistaking who he was. Prince Henry even as the second son to the king and queen effectively the spare to the couple he had a grace and presence about him that you would think that he was the heir apparent and not his brother Arthur. The older man was Charles Brandon; Jane had heard tales of these two men, the terrible twosome they were known by many at court or those who frequented it often. She had to admit the Prince had a cheeky look in his eye like he was looking for the first opportunity to get into some mischief.

Her mother looked to her, 'Jane dear why don't you welcome the Prince and Master Brandon to the house' she whispered in her ear.

She nodded and walked towards them now off their horses. She saw Henry share a look between Charles.

'And who is this pretty young lady, it cannot be the little girl that last time of meeting cried as I looked at her, what was her name Charles?'

'Jenny, or was it Jane'

If Jane could have blushed then she would have, they were indeed talking about the meeting that they had a few years at court where it was Christmas, much to her embarrassment which would haunt her for many years to come she was sure. Her sister had stolen her doll that had been a present from her father this Christmastide, her sister Elizabeth who was older than she had given it to Henry and told him to hide it. Jane had seen him with it passionately declaring that she was to give it back to her and when he said it did not belong to her she had cried and demanded it to be given back to her or she would tell her father.

'I believe Jane was her name' Henry commented, 'But it was not this lady surely. Look how she has grown'

'I am afraid, Your Grace, that you speak of me, much to my embarrassment' Jane met his eyes, 'I am afraid I was much younger and foolish at that time'

Henry smiled to her and she found herself smiling back. 'I can say we have both matured since that meeting my lady'

Jane nodded, 'I was wondering whether you would like to take a look at the Gardens later and of course yourself Master Brandon'

'Charles and I would love to have a walk around the grounds' Jane was unsure whether Charles Brandon would be that happy about it but she had a feeling wherever Henry went Charles was never too far behind.

'Of course Lady Jane' Charles nodded. 'It will be a pleasure to see them'

()()()()

Jane looked to her mother for confirmation that she could take the two merry men as she had named them in her head to walk around the gardens after they had settled into their rooms. Her mother watched the Queen who agreed that the boys needed to have some fresh air.

'Off you go Jane, and do not get up to any mischief'

'That includes you both too Henry and Charles' The Queen laughed. Jane had a feeling that she was expecting them to get up to something.

Henry's eyes were watching Jane as they walked along the grounds, he had the suspicion that she was not one to walk so slowly when it came to being in these grounds she seemed the type of person that would run when she was not expected to be a lady. She had a spirit that he had noticed the first time he had met her. He could feel the same, he longed to run and to have some fun. He smiled as a plan formulated in his head.

'Jane, I imagine this is quite the place to play hide and seek'

'Oh your grace it is' she smiled, 'my sisters and I before they became too old to play such games used to spend hours playing hide and seek'

'Then how about we have a game' Henry smiled.

'If it would please your grace' she said.

'Charles and I would be delighted, how about you count for the first game and come and find us' Henry smiled.

Jane wondered how often he and Charles really got the chance to do this. She imagined not so much as they were being taught by one of the world's most notorious scholars John Skelton. She imagined not much time for fun was given to them both.

She closed her eyes and began to count. She allowed the wind to hit her face she could at least enjoy the peace and quiet for a few minutes before she would go looking for the Prince and Charles.

'Ready or not here I come' she shouted.

She found Charles with ease, it would appear that he was not so adverse to the idea of playing hide and seek then Henry had painted that they were. It took her longer to find Henry at one point she wondered if she would ever find him, she wondered how she would explain to her mother that she had lost the prince because they were playing a game of hide and seek.

When she found Henry she beamed. 'Found you, your Grace'

'That you did my lady, you are rather skilled now let's see how good you are at hiding' he smiled.

Jane knew that she would show the prince that she was indeed very good at hiding, she wanted to prove to them both that she was not just a little girl but she was someone who could be seen as their equal which meant she could hide just as well as they did or as Henry did anywhere and she knew just the place. She ran off as she heard Henry begin to count.

'Henry why are you humouring her, she is a little girl and we should be training or reading'

'I said for her to hide I did not say I was going to find her' Henry laughed to his friend. 'Come on let's have a little walk around a bit longer'

()()()()

It was a little while later that Jane thought that she was either very good at hiding or no one was going to find her. She got out of her hiding place and struggled to wipe away a tear from her face. She looked down at her dress; her mother was going to kill her for getting it dirty. Her father would be disappointed in her for playing such childish games he kept reminding her that she was becoming a young lady and should not be playing like this anymore. As she made her way back to the house she spotted Henry and Charles practicing their fighting. This was when Jane saw red. She marched up to Henry; her small statute seemed to make her raise a few inches as she walked towards him.

'Ahhh there you are' Henry smiled, 'We have been looking for you everywhere'

'You did not even come to look for me' she spat, 'If you did not want to play then you should have just said, that would have been the gentlemanly thing for you to do, instead you left me. Anything could have happened to me your grace'

She turned away she would not allow him to see how hurt she really was by him leaving her. She would not allow the tear to fall down her face.

'My lady' Henry began to speak.

She did not turn her head; she just walked back in the manor and had to endure the disappointment from her father.

()()()()

A few days later and Jane tried to keep away from Henry and his friend Charles Brandon. She began to walk the gardens longer than necessary; if she could avoid the prince then she would not feel that she would have been nice to the prince maybe the Prince had been looking for her. Of course she agreed then but secretly she knew that the Prince had not. She went to the stables and there she found her horse blaze, the horse had a reddish tinge to its hair when the sun hit it. It was a present from her father when he had gone away for a while.

She stroked the nose of the horse. 'I know you want to go for a run and I would if I was sure I wouldn't get caught'

The horse tilted its head to look at her as if to taunt her a little she sighed. 'Come on then'

A lady of her statute should not be able to know how to put the reins and saddle on a horse, but Jane had watched the stable boy do it many a time he had even taught her. She placed them all on her horse and got up on to his back. The horse satisfied that he was going to be taken out. She kicked him and began to gallop off around the estates.

()()()()

Henry was bored as prince of England the spare to the crown never expected to take the throne unless God forgive him for thinking so something happened to Arthur. Henry wanted adventure, he wanted to do something that would give him a purpose in life, maybe marry a woman who would love him. He thought of the Girl Jane in the Stafford household, the daughter of the Duke. She had something in her that Henry liked she was a little firecracker a loose cannon who had not been afraid to stand up to him something his best friend seldom did.

He watched as she rode out on the horse into the grounds, it looked as if rain would soon upon them and she would be stuck out in the rain what if she did not know the grounds as well as she thought. He saddled his own horse and followed her.

As he approached a thicket which led to a river at the edge of the estate he heard a muffled cry. He stopped his horse. There he saw Jane muddy and by the looks of it hurt. Flying down towards her he met her eyes.

'Oh no' Jane sighed.

'What happened, my lady?' he looked at her. The rain would be falling soon.

'Blaze he threw me off, something must have spooked him. And I fell down here, twisted my ankle' she sighed.

'Where is Blaze now?'

'I don't know he went back towards the manor I hope he will be safe'

'I am sure he will, my lady, but I need to look at your leg, does it hurt'

He brushed his fingers against her ankle not that he knew what he was really doing as he touched it he saw her wince although she was determined that she would not cry in front of him. 'I think it is hurt' she said.

He knew what he was going to do then; he picked her up and placed her on his horse making sure she was secure before taking the reins as he was behind her. He wrapped his arms around her as they went back to the manor.

'My father is going to be mad again' she spoke after an agonising silence.

'He won't I will explain what happened' Henry smiled softly to her, 'I think he will be pleased that you are in one piece'

'Thank you Henry' she shifted resting her head against his chest.

'It's not a problem and will you not call me Harry'

'Thank you Harry' she replied.

()()()()

Jane could not believe when she awoke a few days later that there was a dress waiting for her. Her mother looked to her.

'The Prince got the King to order it for you as a sorry for getting you both lost in the grounds the other day, he says he hopes that you shall forgive him and he will listen to you in future'

Jane was about to argue that it was not Henry's fault that she was hurt but then she realised he had covered for her. He must have been the one who got the hiding for them going out on the horses without telling anyone. Maybe she had been wrong about the Prince maybe there was something she could like in him. Her Mother seemed to have the same look in her eye too.


End file.
